Monday, April 20, 2020

GoAir has asked a majority of its 5,500-odd employees to go on "leave without pay" till May 3. The entire fleet remains grounded till the end of the extended deadline, the airline said. "The lockdown has been further extended till May 3, and with this extension, our fleet continues to be completely grounded. Hence, we are constrained to request you to proceed on 'leave without pay' till May 3," GoAir said in a communication to its employees on Saturday.

In March, the Wadia Group-owned airline asked its employees to go on LWP on a rotational basis besides cutting their salaries. The airline had also terminated the contracts of its expat pilots in March. "In view of the current situation, GoAir has been forced to terminate the contracts of expat pilots, which is in line with the reduced international capacity," a GoAir spokesperson had said then.

Most airlines had chalked out plans to resume their services from April 15, which is when the initial lockdown was supposed to be lifted. However, the airline had said then that it might have to extend the period of LWP beyond April 15.

A GoAir official said about 10 per cent of the 5,500-odd employees, who are crucial for certain tasks even with no operation, would continue to work and will be paid partial salary.

"We are hopeful that the skies will reopen from May 4 and we will resume operations in a phased manner," it said. GoAir said that it is working towards building its ability to scale up operations in a market that would emerge post coronavirus.
20/04/20 Business Today